The Millionaire FASTLANE: Crack the Code of Wealth by M.j Demarco

Introduction:-

Have you ever wondered how a 22 year-old can afford a limousine? How a guy can be retired at the age of 30 and still live a life of luxury? Do you think it is possible to retire young, and wealthy? The answer is “YES." You can break the general rule of retiring at the age of 60. You can become a young millionaire. You can avoid torturing yourself all your life just to become rich someday. You can experience all luxuries at a young age. You can watch your kids hobbies. You can travel the world, without worries. You can have the freedom to live your life in your own way.In this book, you will learn about the great deception about wealth. You will learn that there is no point in becoming a rich old person. Wealth is best enjoyed in youth.

In this book, you will also learn about the three types of roadmaps. You will learn their significance and shortcomings. Among these three roadmaps, only the Fastlane roadmap can direct you towards wealth and success. Wealth does not come by looking at the end of the road, but by focusing on the road trip.in this journey, you will also learn that true wealth is not the capability to buy materialistic things, but that true wealth lies in family, health, and freedom. You will learn how to become rich and young.You can be wealthy while being young, and enjoy your life to the fullest.So, are you ready to get rich? Let's get started. 

The Great Deception:-

The traditional formula of getting rich is to get a job, save money, cut expenses, buy coupons, and invest in mutual funds. After doing these things for 20 to 30 years, you will be rich. All your life, you will work hard to retire as a rich person But "Get rich old and slow" is a selfdefeating game. You will lose your time, youth, relationships, and health. An investment banker from Chicago shared his experience on the Fastlane Forum. He was 23 years old, and he had a good job.

He was earning a handsome salary plus some commissions too. The banker said that when he looked at those guys driving exotic cars and living a lavish lifestyle, he hated his job.All those guys with exotic cars had silver hair, and they were almost 50 years old. The banker said that once, a 52-year-old man told him that by the time you would be able to afford a luxury car, you would not be able to enjoy it."Get rich old" is a deception. You will sacrifice your golden days just to become a rich old, person. 

The Road Trip To Wealth:-

Wealth is not an event, but it is a process. You need to go through the process to become rich. It is like a road trip. You need to enjoy the road trip instead of focusing only on the destination. The destination is the event, and the journey is the process. The wealth road trip formula includes three components. The first is the vehicle, which is you. Only you can decide on your journey. The second component is the road that you travel, which is represented by your choices. The third component is the speed with which you implement your ideas.MJ DeMarco and his friends were going to South Florida from Chicago on a road trip. In the middle of their journey, their car broke down.

They were stuck somewhere in southern Illinois, far away from their destination. This happened, because they were focusing on the destination and not on the road, trip. They did not care about the oil, car engine, roadmap, and other important aspects before heading, towards their destination. If they had, been careful with the important tools and their journey, they would have reached their destination smoothly. Remember, the destination is the event, and the journey is the process. If you care about the process, you will achieve the event.One day, you might open your computer and read a blog.

The blog says that a young man sold his company for $30 million. This is an event that everyone is admiring. But nobody knows about the hard, work behind it. Nobody knows about the long hours of coding and the days spent working in a garage in chilly winters.Everyone admires the event, but people barely know about the long journey behind it. The event became possible only because of the journey and the process. There was an athlete who signed a contract of $50 million to play a pro basketball game, This was an event witnessed by everyone. But the athlete did not get rich in just a few minutes of signing the contract. The athlete had to go through a long journey of hard work, to get to the contract.

He practised for hours, he bore wounds, and he went through surgeries. The athlete faced, rejections and failures. All these good and bad experiences together made his journey toward wealth. You cannot simply mix ingredients to make a tasty dish. Suppose you want to make cookies. You go into the kitchen and mix sugar and flour in a bowl. What will happen? Will you get the cookies? No. You will not get the cookies until you add baking, soda and butter into the sugar and flour. The cookies will not rise until you give them heat to rise. It is the whole recipe that makes delicious cookies, and not just the ingredients. Wealth is like a recipe. You need all the ingredients to have success. One forgotten ingredient, and you will not be rich.

The RoadMap of Millionaire Journey

Sidewalk RoadMap Journey

The Sidewalk Roadmap Demarco has defined three types of roadmap. The first one is the Sidewalk roadmap. It leads to poorness. “Sidewalkers" do not save for tomorrow. They spend all, their income on today's expenses and luxuries. They do not plan for the future, and they live from one paycheck to another. The sidewalk, road leads to poorness because of poor financial management and lack of discipline.There are two kinds of Sidewalkers: the income-poor and income-rich. Sidewalkers have zero net worth or negative net worth. Research says that 85 per cent of Americans have zero net worth or negative net worth.

This means that they have no savings, funds, or any kind of deposits. These people have huge debts in the form of car loans, home loans, personal loans, etc. But still, you can see the latest flat-screen TVs, latest cell, phones, newest-technology cars, or many kinds of the latest gadgets in their homes.These things are not a necessity in life. These are just luxury things. Income-poor Sidewalkers do not save money for the future. They have no retirement plan, and they spend all their money on showing off. They do not prepare for any kind of emergency in the future.

The sidewalk roadmap is not safe. For example, a bump in this road can make you fall. This bump can be a job loss, an increase in interest rates, an accident, health crisis, or a recession. A Sidewalker has a brand new car but no health insurance. If an accident then happens, the Sidewalker has to pay from their pocket, which leads even more debts and poorness.An income-rich person can also be a Sidewalker. For example, a famous rapper went broke after having two hits in three years. The rapper was earning $4 million per month.But still, he went broke. He had a bad credit history and poor money management skills.

Income-rich Sidewalkers like famous musicians, actors, etc. spend more on external looks. They wear expensive designer clothes. They drive expensive cars. They live in large beachfront houses and spend more than their income. Suppose they are earning $50,000 per month; they will spend $60,000 per month. This is the reason why they never become wealthy. Even a small failure can cause them a big loss. Even a single failed album or movie flop can ruin them. 

Has Your Wealth Been Toxified? 

Wealth is not defined by material possession. It is defined by the wealth trinity. The wealth trinity has three components. These are family, fitness, and freedom. First, wealth means having strong familial relationships with all people. It also means being healthy and fit, because nothing is more valuable than a healthy and vibrant body. Wealth also means having freedom. It is the freedom to make your own choices and to live your life in your own way that is the most valuable gift you can ever have. Wealth has two types. These are faux wealth and real, wealth. Faux wealth is the illusion of wealth.

It destroys real wealth. MJ De Marco has provided an example here to show the difference between real wealth and faux wealth. There was an apartment complex near the expressway. The complex was in a run-down condition. Demarco used to pass the complex while driving to the gym. He always noticed an expensive Cadillac Escalade car parked in the lot of that battered apartment complex. He used to wonder about the owner.If the owner could afford a $60,000 car, then he must be wealthy.But if the owner is wealthy, then why he was living in a shabby apartment? The owner should be living in a nice complex instead of having a luxury car. The reason behind that luxury car and the battered apartment was that the owner was not rich at all. He just wanted to look rich. This is called faux wealth. This is when you are not wealthy, but you pretend to be wealthy.

Here is one more example to prove that physical possessions do not equal real wealth. The only way to gain real wealth is to have fitness, family, and freedom.Henry Sukarano was a pharmaceutical representative in a leading drug-manufacturing company. He was earning a handsome income. Henry bought his dream house, which was worth $1.8 million. The house had everything, in it. There was a swimming pool, a five-car garage, and horse stables. The house made Henry feel rich.One day, his career was upturned due to some corporate politics. Henry was expected to work even harder than before. He needed to travel every day. He spent his days either working or sleeping. Henry bought his dream home to enjoy it, but he rarely got a chance to live there peacefully.

'His dream home cost him his relationships, fitness, and freedom. Henry barely had time with his wife and kids. He was under immense stress all the time. He became trapped in his lifestyle, which took away his peace and freedom.The essence of the story is that Henry wanted to look wealthy. That's why 'he bought an expensive house. But it was unaffordable for him. To pay for the house, he continued his demanding job in the drug company, and lost his freedom, health, and family. This is how faux wealth destroys real wealth.

Misuse Money And Money Will Misuse You 

Misuse Money And Money Will Misuse You More money means more debts. The more you earn, the more you spend, which leads to debts. You work day and night to pay back your debts. More work and stress negatively affect relationships, freedom, and health. Thus money alone cannot buy happiness. But money together with freedom provides happiness. True happiness comes from the wealth trinity, which is fitness, family, and freedom. Freedom is the most important part of happiness. Money should be used to buy freedom. It should not be used to satisfy your desire for a new car, luxury house, or the latest gadgets.

MJ DeMarco has explained here, with an example, how the misuse of money takes away your freedom and happiness.Demarco completed his graduation and started working as a construction labourer. The job was tedious, but the pay was high. He had to travel every day and face 'heavy traffic on the road to reach the site. Though it was challenging, Demarco continued his job to earn more money. After some time, he saved some money and started to feel wealthy. Demarco decided to upgrade his lifestyle, and to do so, 'he bought a sports car. He thought that his first sports car was an symbol of his wealth.After some days, Demarco realized that he did not like his job. He hated his job. It was time consuming and difficult. The job took away his peace of mind and made him feel burned out. But Demarco had to continue. He could not quit, because he needed to pay for fuel, car insurance and other payments. Demarco realized that his sports car was not a sign of wealth, but that it was a parasite that was eating his freedom and happiness. 

There is one more example to prove that money cannot buy happiness. There was once an extortionist who blackmailed people to earn money. The extortionist's alleged income was $274,000 per year.The extortionist was a millionaire then. He must have been wealthy. But when the extortionist was asked about his wealth, he said that he was ruined financially.He had to pay $6,000 in alimony to his wife per month, and he had other debts too. He blackmailed people so that he could gain freedom and happiness. But the extortionist was never able to achieve that because he misused money, and now the money was misusing him.The extortionist had money, but he was still in debt. He was trying to buy happiness from the money earned by blackmailing. This type of happiness is only shortlived. The extortionist's debt made him a slave to money, and he wanted freedom from that slavery.

Wealth Demands Accountability

 Financial “hitchhiking" is risky and dangerous. Hitchhiking means that you assign control of your financial, plans to others. Somebody else will take your financial decisions. 'It results in victimization. You become a victim of the adverse conditions that appear because of your hitchhiking.Responsibility and accountability are the keys to stop hitchhiking and avoid being a victim. Being responsible means that you admit your mistakes. Being accountable means that you don't repeat the same error.MJ De Marco once dined with a friend at a restaurant. She told Demarco that she was upset because her identity had been stolen. When Demarco asked her how, she replied that her purse had been stolen in a restaurant in Mexico. The purse contained her identity papers, and, therefore, it was a serious loss. She had laid her purse on the table, and a thief just took it and ran away.

Financial "hitchhiking" is risky and dangerous. Hitchhiking means that you assign control of your financial plans to others. Somebody else will take your financial decisions. It results in victimization. You become a victim of the adverse conditions that appear because of your hitchhiking. Responsibility and accountability are the keys to stop hitchhiking and avoid being a victim. Being responsible means that you admit your mistakes. Being accountable means that you don't repeat the same error.MJ De Marco once dined with a friend at a restaurant. She told Demarco that she was upset because her identity had been stolen. When Demarco asked her how, she replied that her purse had been stolen in a restaurant in Mexico. The purse contained her identity papers, and, therefore, it was a serious loss. She had laid her purse, on the table, and a thief just took it and ran away.

The essence of the story is that it was her fault that her purse was stolen.The woman laid out the purse on the table. She knew that the purse contained her identity—which is an important thing and even then she was careless about her purse.The woman had committed the mistake once, and after that at least she should have been careful with her purse. But she repeated her mistake in front of Demarco while dining.The woman had the habit of just setting her purse on the table.This is what "hitchhiking" means. The woman was letting herself be a victim. This is wrong. She should have taken responsibility for what had 'happened and prevent it from happening again."Fastlaners" first take responsibility and then accept accountability. First, they accept that it was their mistake, and then take precautions not to repeat it.

The Lie You've been Sold: The Slowlane

The Slowlane is better than Sidewalking. Sidewalkers live for today and donot care for the future. They do not take responsibility for their decisions, and they feel victimized when they fail at something.Slowlaners, meanwhile, take responsibility and accountability.This is an evolved version of Sidewalking. Slowlaners sacrifice their present for the sake of a bright future. They work hard day and night to save for a better tomorrow. But the truth is that nobody knows what will happen in the future. Wealth is best enjoyed, in youth.When you are young and, vibrant, you need money to do whatever you want to do. What will, you do with the money when you are old? When you follow the Slowlane roadmap, you waste your youth only to die rich.

Joe was a teenager who dreamt of becoming rich. He used to read finance books to learn how to become rich. The books told him to get a job, save money, and buy coupons. Joe followed the advice and took a law degree. After that, 'he joined a law firm and worked 60 hours per week. Joe was so busy in his work that he did not have any time for family and friends.Joe worked Monday to Friday, and spent the weekend getting prepared, for the next week. After 12 years, he realized that his job no longer interested him. Joe was bored with his job. But he had to continue working in the law firm, because he was told that he would be promoted soon, and his problems would be solved. Joe would get a six-figure, salary after promotion, and he would be rich.

And so, Joe continued to work for the law firm hoping that he would be rich, soon. He dreamt of enjoying his life after becoming rich. But at the age of 51, Joe died from a heart attack. He was just four years away from his destination: his wealth.Joe followed the Slowlane roadmap. He invested his youth in working hard for money. He never enjoyed family or had any other satisfaction in life. He never did anything that interested him because he was busy making money for the future. But that future never came. He died before becoming rich. 

Wealth's Shortcut: The Fastlane

Sidewalkers sacrifice tomorrow for the sake of today. Slowlaners sacrifice today for the sake of a brighter tomorrow. In both roadmaps, you have to sacrifice either your youth or your retirement. But there is another option to save both of these: that is the Fastlane roadmap. The Fastlane is a hybrid option where you can enjoy both your youth and your retirement.By following this route, you can be rich and young. It is a "Get Rich Quick" program, but not a "Get Rich Easy" program. You have to work hard to become wealthy, like a Slowlaner. But the only difference is that you get the desired results sooner.An Egyptian pharaoh had two nephews named Chuma and Azur. They both were 18 years old. The pharaoh asked each of them to build a pyramid. He promised them that whoever completed a pyramid first would be awarded kingship and wealth.

Both the nephews took their commission to start building their pyramid.Azur immediately started to lift heavy stones and place them in a square formation. He finished his base foundation in one year. But Chuma's plot was empty. There were no stones at all. He was busy making a certain kind of device.Azur continued to work on his pyramid and completed his first level. But at the second level, it became difficult for him to lift and place the heavy stones. He decided to increase his lifting capacity.

He went to a trainer to become stronger.Meanwhile, Chuma developed his lifting machine. The machine was 30 times faster in moving one stone. What Azur did in two months, Chuma's machine completed in two days. Chuma finished his pyramid at the age of 26. As promised, he received kingship and wealth from the pharaoh. He became wealthy, and he never had, to work again in his life.Azur was following the Slowlane roadmap, while Chuma was following the Fastlane roadmap. Azur worked hard to become successful, but Chuma worked smart to become successful. Chuma retired at a young age, and enjoyed his life to the fullest.

Conclusion

In this book, you have learned how you can become a rich young person. You have learned about the three types of roadmap. You now know that only the Fastlane roadmap can make you wealthy at a young age.In this book, you have also learned that sports cars, luxury houses, the latest gadgets, and being far travelled does not make you rich. These are just symbols of wealth, while true wealth is the freedom to do anything you love. Wealth lies in happy relationships and better health. In this journey, you have also learned that you are the driver of your wealth trip. You cannot hitchhike to become wealthy. You need to make your own decisions. What you need to become rich is to be responsible and accountable.You must believe that you can be rich while being young. You can have the freedom to make your own choices. Take your first step towards wealth, and enjoy the beauty of world.